Valve-control mechanism for tanks



Sept. 1, 1925.

A. L. BETTS VALVE CONTROL MECHANISM FOR TANKS riled Aug. 11. 1921 ill 4 Sheets-Sheet l IIlIlllll R Y mm M N R E 0 V w my A Sept. 1 ,1925. h 1,552,030

' I A. L. BETTS VALVE CONTROL MECHANISM FOR TANKS Filed Aug. 11, 192i 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 !N VENTOR .4

Sept. 1, 1925. 1,552,030

A. L. BETTS VALVE CONTROL MECHANISM FOR TANKS Filed Aug. 11. 1921 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 29 13 o o l 11v VENTOR 1% 2 A TTORNE y Sept. 1, 1925.

A. L. ,BETTS VALVE CONTROL MECHANISM FOR TANKS Filed Aug. 11, 1921 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR Pa tented Sept. 1, 1925.

' To all whom it may concern:

UNITED STATES,

PATENT OFFICE.

An'rmm L. nn'rrs, or cmcnmnrr, OHIO, essrenonro aueusrmn DAVIS, m, or covme'ron, xnnrucx'r.

VALVE-CONTROL MECHANISM FOR TANKS.

Application filed August 11, 1921. Serial No. 491,688.

Be it known that I, Anrmm L. Bnrrs, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Cincinnati, in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Valve- Oontrol Mechanism for Tanks, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to valve'control mechanism for tanks, more especially for vehicle tanks or tank-wagons. Specifically, the invention comprises improvements in the mechanism for controlling the emergency valves of oil-tank wagons disclosed in the Davis and Betts application Serial No. 381,575, filed May 15, 1920, though it is not necessarily limited to that specific anechanism.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a compartmented tank-wagon tank and its bucketinvention, a portion of the wa box and valve mechanism, embod ing the of the bucket-box being, broken away in order that parts within may be indicated, the mechanism being shown in the open condition;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation on a larger scale of the tank and the bucket-box, with wall portions broken away and parts within shown partly in section and partly in elevation, the mechanism being represented in the closed condition;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary plan view showing parts within and above the bucket-box,

the upper part of said box' being cut away and its door being seen in section, two positions of the mechanism being represented by full and broken lines;

Fig. 4' is a vertical longitudinal section through the fluid-check device;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary side elevation of the compound control rod with its locking device;

lig. 6 is a front end elevation of the same; an

Fig. 7 is a view at the region of the lock show ng the casin in ion tudinal section and the inner rod in elevation, and showing the locking bolt turned to the releasing osition, and the casing starting to move orward under the action of thevalve-closing prmgs.

The tank 1 illustrated in Fi 1 has compartments 2, 3, and a bucket ox 4 at the ,6,'which in the clos pulled out to open the emergency valves 7 I commanding the bottom outlets 8 of the tank compartments. From said outlets pipes 9 extend rearward beneath the tank and bucket-box and terminate in the usual delivery faucets 10 at the rear of the vehole. The emergency valves are contained in the lower portions of the compartments and are preferably of the construction covered by the Davis and Betts Patent No. 1,284,063, granted November 5, 1918. They are unseated by closed downward y by the action of springs 11, which are preferably incorporated in the valve structures.

Operating connections, marked generally 12, pass upward from the emergency valves through stufling-boxes 13 in the top of the tank, above Wl'llCll their guided rod ortions 14 connect with bell-cranks 15 in rackets 16. The depending arms of these bellcranks engage and support pivotally fittings 17 on a control rod 18, WhlCh extends longitudinally over the top of the tank and therewith joined bucket-box. The rear end of said control rod is pivotally connected to a crank 19 on the upper end of a vertical rock-shaft 20, which passes through the top of the bucket-box and is supported therein and by a bracket 21 bolted to a shelf 22. To the lower end of the rock-shaft 20, below said bracket, is inned the handle lever condition of the emergency valves lies at the inner side of the closed door 5 in the manner shown in Fig. 3.

In order to unseat the emergency valves to permit the oil to pass to the rear faucets, the operator opens the door of the bucketbox, and, grasping the handle portion of the lever, which is broken ofi in Fig. 3, pulls the lever outwardly of the door-opening. In this position the lever and the remainder of the valve mechanism are held against the action of the springs 11 tending to close the valves, by a catch 23,- which preferably comprises a bottom block or flange 24 carried by the bracket 21 and presenting a holding shoulder 25 with which cooperates a tail ulling them upward and piece 26 of the handle lever, the pin 27 connecting the lever to the rock-shaft permitting the lever to be tilted so as to move said tail piece vertically into and out of engagement with said shoulder. When the tail piece is caught behind the shoulder, the handle lever is held projecting outwardly through the door-opening in the position indicated by broken lines in Fig. 3. An interlock is thus constituted between the valve mechanism and the bucket-box door, whereby the door is open when the emergency valves are open and whereby the valves must be closed when the door is closed. To effect closing of the valves, the operator riises the weight of the lever 6, so as to carry the tail piece 26 down belowjthe shoulder 25, whereupon the valve springs 11 act upon the mechanism to close the valves and to swing the handle into the box, clearing the door 5, which can then be closed and locked.

In these respects the mechanism illustrated I is substantially like that of the Davis and Betts application Serial No. 381,575 aforesaid.

In order'to save the mechanism and the closing under the action of the springs, I

provide a fluid-check 28 connected with the control mechanism. This device is most advantageously connected with the portion of the vertical rock-shaft 20 within the bucketbox. In the preferred embodiment it comprises a horizontal cylinder pressed on a block 29 which contains a duct and adjustable needle valve 30 for controlling the escape of air, the block being pivot-bolted at 31 to the shelf 22. A spider 32 clamped to the open end of the cylinder constitutes a guide for the rod 33 of the piston 34. The end of this rod is pivoted at 35 to the crank arm 36 on the rock-shaft above the operating handle 6. The piston itself is so constructed, in a manner familiar in tire pumps, as to provide for a rapid inlet of air during the outward movement of the piston, whereas upon inward movement,.

produced by closing of the valves, the air is trapped and compressed between the piston and the block 29, being allowed to escape only at the rate permitted by the adj ustment of the needle valve 30.

The control-rod 18, instead of being a single rod, is a compound rod com rising relatively movable members norma ly locked or operatively connected together for the operations which have been described and capable of being unlocked or released one from the other so as to cause the emergency valves to close without releasing the operating and holding means in the bucket-box. To this end the said rod is composed of a tubular casing 37 and an inner rod 38, which latter projects rearward beyond the casing 37 and is the member which is connected to the 'thus being rock-shaft 20 and by the latter to the mechanism in the bucket-box. The outer sleeve or casing 37, on the other hand, bears the clamps or fittings 17, to which are connected the bell cranks 15, which in turn are connected with the emergency valves 7. The

or cut awayat 43 between its journal regions, one end portion of the bolt being bent to form a crank 44. In the locking condition the slabbed portion of the bolt is tilted so that its corner portion 45 is in holding engagement with the shoulder 42. In this position it is held against accidental displacement by aspring 46, one end of which bears upon the cap piece 40 and the other end upon the bolt, the turning of the bolt under the action of this spring being limited by the contact of the corner region 45 with the. bottom of the recess in the inner rod 38. In this manner the two parts of the compound control rod are reliably locked against relative movement under the pull of the valve springs 11 in the one direction and the pull of the operating handle 6 in the other direction. A comparatively slight force applied to the crank 44, however, is suificient to turn the bolt through a fractional revolution, so that the holding corner 45 is withdrawn from the shoulder 42, the cut-out portion of the bolt then permitting the outer casing 37 to jump forward under the action of the valve springs, the valves tpermitted to close through the movement 0 the outer casing while the inner rod 38 and the mechanism connected there with remain stationary.

This operation may be conveniently effected by the driver from the cab of the ve hicle by means of a flexible cable 47 connected to the crank 44 extending to the front of the tank and having a suitable handle 48.

Broadly, it will be seen, I provide a con trol means for the spring-closin valves comprising two parts which are relatively movable but normally operativelyconnected, one

of the parts having operative connection the valves are standing open.

While a preferred form of the invention has been described in detail, I donot wish to be limited to the specific embodiment illustrated, since numerous changes and substitutions of equivalents may be made.

I claim:

L. In combination with a vehicle tank having an outlet, an automatically closing valve commanding said outlet, a control rod passing lengthwise of the tank, a connection between sald control rod and said valve, operating and holding means connected with the rear end of the control rod, a releasable lock in the control rod, and means connected with the ;forward' end of the control rod to release said lock to permit the valve to close independent of the means at the rear end. 2. In a tank vehicle, the combination with a tank body comprising a series of compartments each having an outlet, automatically closing valves for said outlets, a control rod passing lengthwise of the tank body and branch connections from said control rod to the several valves, operating and holding means connected with the rear end of the control rod, a releasable lock in the control rod, and means connected with the forward end of the control rod to release said lock to permit the valves to close independent of the means at the rear end.

3. In combination with a tank having an outlet, a valve cooperative with said outlet,

a compound control rod comprisin a 'cas-' trol rod, and a manually releasable lock be-- tween the casing and inner rod toward the other end of the control rod.

4. In combination with a vehicle tank hav ing a bottom outlet, a valve cooperative with said outlet, a compound control rod extending longitudinally over the top of the tank, and comprising a casing and an inner rod, a connection passing downward from the casing to the valve, suitable operating and holding means at the rear end of the tank connected with the inner rod, and a lock between the rod and easing adapted for manual release at the forward end ofthe tank.

5. In a vehicle tank having a bottom outlet, and spring-urged mechanism for said outlet, an operating connection passing from the valve through the top of the tank, a longitudinal control rod connected therewith, a bucket-box, a vertical rock-shaft passing through the top of the bucket-box and connected with said control rod, operat ing and holding means in the bucket-box oooperative with said rock-shaft, and a fluidcheck also connected with said rock-shaft.

ARTHUR L. BETTS. 

